Abortion

2023-07-08

Introduction

Why the big deal on abortion? Why do people get so passionate about this subject? I have written on this subject before:

• The personhood of the unborn and potential underlying motivations
• The consequences of abortion on society

From these, I have concluded that abortion is infanticide with real consequences on society. People will say, But what about abortion because of the health of the mother? I am not speaking mainly about that, but you must come to terms with the reality that the unborn is a human life. This must inform every decision. I am speaking mostly about the reckless living that causes pregnancy and then death.

Consider the unborn who can experience joy: “For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy” (Luke 1:44). You must consider that any unborn baby is real human life and must be respected in that way.

Biblical Opposition

There are many people that try to use the Bible to defend abortion. The consequences of doing this is not what they intend. Consider the following.

The critic will say that life does not begin at conception, quoting this, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.’ (Genesis 2:7). This is a poor choice of verse to use because Adam had no mother and was never in any womb. He was created directly by God, and God gave the first man life after He had formed Him. Rather, of every man since, we read, “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb” (Psalms 139:13). The body developing in the womb that David refers to is himself. It is he personally, not some inanimate thing.

I have spoke of the following verses before:

If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. (Exodus 21:22-25)

However, critics use this to say the unborn, or the “fetus,” is not a person. However, if this is the case, why is the perpetrator punished to the same injury done to the baby, all the way up to and including life? The “mischief” corresponds to the fruit that comes from the woman, and the punishment corresponds to anything that happens.

Here is a case where the critic will try to justify abortion, using the case they think is abortion. This is the case where the jealous husband puts his wife on trial for potential adultery.

Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell; And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen. (Numbers 5:21-22)

Furthermore, we read,

And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people. And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed. (Numbers 5:27-28)

I am not sure how this represents abortion. The swelling belly is likely the reference they refer to. However, note what it says about the innocent woman: “then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.” This curse applies to having children in general, not an abortion. She had not conceived yet, for it says, “shall conceive seed.” But if she committed adultery, she would be condemned to not have children.

It was a curse and a disappointment to not have children. Consider Hannah before she had Samuel: “And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb” (1 Samuel 1:6). Also consider Michal the daughter of Saul and wife of David, who had children from another husband. But what did it say because of her cursing David? “Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death” (2 Samuel 6:23). Because of her actions, she was punished by not having any more children.

However, let us say for sake of argument that Numbers 5:11-31 refers to a miscarriage, which is the best we can do. The priest and the married couple had to rely on the Lord to see how it turned out. If she had committed adultery, she would miscarry, and if not, she would not miscarry. They let the Lord do it; they were not choosing to slay the child. They were not using wicked tools and solutions to destroy the child, like they do today.

It has been said that life is not sacred to God: “Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep” (Deuteronomy 28:18). This is an out-of-context error because these are curses given in Deuteronomy 28 for not following the Lord and breaking His covenant. If the Jews broke their covenant with the Lord, they would have consequences, and they certainly did.

God punished the Jews and other nations by the death of their children, as we saw in Deuteronomy 28:18. This is the case in 2 Kings 8:12; Isaiah 13:18; Hosea 9:10-16; 13:16. Notice these were punishments executed by God by the hands of enemies. Are all today’s abortions punishments, or is abortion a way to eliminate a baby, which is considered an obstacle to whatever their purpose is?

What about Menahem, who did this when he invaded certain cities? “Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah: because they opened not to him, therefore he smote it; and all the women therein that were with child he ripped up” (2 Kings 15:16). We cannot use this wicked man as an example, for “he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD: he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin” (2 Kings 15:18).

Society’s Arguments

I found certain questions posed by a law professor in light of potential laws against abortion. Consider a six-weeks-pregnant woman. Is this when child support should start? Should we not deport a foreign woman since she is carrying a U.S. citizen? Can she insure the fetus and collect if she miscarries? She understands the issue. The answers? If there are child support laws in the jurisdiction, yes. The foreign woman should not be deported anyway. And if the insurance company will write the policy, sure. So “yes” is the answer to all these.

There is the slogan that is out there that says, “The body inside your body is not your body.” The statement is true. Declaring that one has right over a baby inside them is wrong. However, those promoting bodily autonomy also say that because a baby, or “fetus,” is in the woman’s body, it is there by permission. The one who needs a blood transfusion or a transplant can’t demand another’s blood or organs, so the baby cannot demand the resources of the mother.

With this argument, however, we see there has been a change in perspective. The Biblical view is that the mother has been given a stewardship to bring a new life into the world. She is blessed, not cursed. However, this assumes that being pregnant is or can be a curse. If you want this sort of bodily autonomy, you have no business getting married or having sex. If you are pro-choice, this is where the choice happens, before you walk down the aisle or have sex. The baby did not “choose” to be there. The mother did in most cases, and the choice happened at that juncture. If one’s choice demands the death of another, woe to such a one.

But what about rape? Well, the execution is happing against the wrong person. The rapist should get capital punishment, not the baby. Change the laws to have automatic death penalty for rapists, and this will clean a lot of this up. This will take a lot of change, and I do not claim to have all the answers, but this is the first step.

Heart Versus Law

Laws that restrict infanticide are good things. However, the real need is a change of heart, mind, and perspective, which will come with regeneration from God. Without this, lives may be saved in the short run, but eternally speaking, nothing has changed without trusting in Christ.

The world, including our nation, is not Christian. Do not expect the views above to be accepted by the world, and do not expect any anti-abortion laws to remain forever in a world that loves death. The world will do what it will do, but the people of the world need to understand that if they choose abortion, they will also choose the consequences of their actions when they see the Lord face to face. If this is you, please consider what you are doing. That is all I can ask.

Conclusion

While this is not exhaustive, this is some discussion on the issues of abortion. The critics do not have a good Biblical hermeneutic to try to navigate the issue. They only have what seems good to them and what is best for them.

Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world. He is coming again. Come out from the culture of death and be separated from what the Lord will destroy.